BRUNSWICK – Lobster rustlers have been working wharves in southern Maine, snatching thousands of dollars worth of the shellfish from floating crates and frustrating fishermen and marine patrol officers.

Since Aug. 31, thieves have hit lobster wharves from Cundy’s Harbor to South Harpswell a half dozen times, snatching $17,000 worth of catch and robbing lobstermen of several days of work.

The thieves’ latest target was Morse Lobster in Harpswell Center, where $2,000 worth of lobsters vanished on Sept. 21.